


A Mother's Love

by within_a_dream



Series: A Mother's Love [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe: Fantine Lives, Canon Era, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 22:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6257581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/within_a_dream/pseuds/within_a_dream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moment Fantine first holds her daughter, she falls in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Mother's Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bookmountains](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookmountains/gifts).



When Fantine first held her daughter, she fell in love. She’d been worried that she would resent this child for setting her life awry, but one look at her blue, blue eyes told Fantine that she could never hate her.

“Hello, Euphrasie,” she whispered, smiling at the child’s coos. “Welcome to the world!”

The months that followed held days spent toiling over seams and fans and any number of other work, and nights spent rocking Euphrasie as she cried. Even at her worst, when her head ached from night after sleepless night and her eyes burned from squinting at her stitching, Fantine never wished for a return to life before Cosette. And it was Cosette now—she’d decided that Euphrasie was far too big a name for her tiny little girl. Fantine had tucked away that Christian name for when she grew into it, calling her something more suited to her small fingers and broad smiles.

Cosette took in everything around her with bright eyes open wide, seeming to memorize every detail of their squalid rooms. Fantine could tell that she’d grow up to be a clever girl. Already her babbles began to take on the form of words; no doubt she’d soon be speaking in earnest.  A clever girl, and a pretty girl, and a pleasant girl as well—now that she’d passed her days of colic, Cosette rarely cried out, and she nearly always smiled. Fantine was so lucky, so very lucky.

If they had to move from town to town when her employers found out her situation, well, she’d always longed for adventure as a girl. If she had to keep Cosette hidden away, what better way to keep her safe from a cruel world? If Fantine told herself these things when she found herself growing bitter, she could nearly bring herself to believe them.

Then she found her guardian angels, and as much as it pained her to part from her daughter, Fantine knew she would be better off living with the Thenardiers rather than skulking around with her mother. “I’ll be back to see you soon,” she whispered as she kissed Cosette goodbye. “I love you, my dearest. Never forget that.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Art source](http://flaviamarquesart.tumblr.com/post/109686493208/could-you-do-fantine-and-maybe-little-cosette-in): drawn by Flavia Marques on Tumblr, and posted with permission. (Flavia has a lot of great Les Mis art on [her Tumblr](flaviamarquesart.tumblr.com), if you like this piece!)


End file.
